This invention refers to a supporting device for an overhead runway, for example a monorail. In the technique of material handling systems, for example in factories, it is known that use is made of systems referred to as "self-propelled" which use overhead rails along which run motor-driven carriages. The rails are supported by securing them, by means of generically C-shaped supporting brackets, to beams above the system. As a rule, a large number of brackets are used in such systems and it is consequently preferable to keep the cost of each individual bracket to a minimum. This contrasts with the need to provide adjustment of the bracket both in height and around a vertical axis, to allow orientation and levelling of the rails regardless of the precise disposition of the supporting beams or the reciprocal orientation of the runways and the beams, especially on curves where the U-bolts usually have to be disposed radially to the curve.
In the known technique various adjusting devices have been proposed, comprising for example a vertical sleeve, permitting rotation of the bracket, onto which a screw or a ring is screwed to enable the bracket to be positioned in height. These systems offer satisfactory adjustment but have the disadvantage of being particularly sensitive to transversal stress on the runway.
Devices have also been proposed in which a horizontal plate, secured to the beam, comprises semicircular slots traversed by screws supporting the bracket. The bracket can thus be adjusted in height, by tightening or loosening the screws, as well as in an angular direction, by sliding the screws along the slots. These devices offer better resistance and stability against transversal thrust but allow limited angular adjustment.